We clutch our coffee cups to us
As if they hold our very soul,
We grasp them, grip them, cling to them
And cart them everywhere we stroll

We sip from them, we swig from them,
We carry them on bus and train,
And yet when we have emptied them
Our attitude is inhumane

We leave them on the carriage floor
We dump them on a windowsill
We prop them up against a door
Allowing all the dregs to spill

How brief, how fleeting is that bond
How short a step from all to naught.
How swift the transformation comes
From lifeblood core to afterthought

Discarded, unreuseable,
A single hit, then cast aside
Yet you try parting drink from man;
It’s one thing man cannot abide.